Study Suggests “Universal Exposure” to BPA in the Womb

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Researchers find the estrogen-mimicking chemical bisphenol A in all umbilical cord blood samples collected during the second trimester from women at a San Francisco clinic.

Unborn babies may face “universal exposure” to bisphenol A (BPA)—a
chemical used to make products like plastic water bottles, DVDs, medical
devices, and food can liners.

Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) says that BPA is safe at the very low levels that
occur in foods. However, in the past year the agency has banned the use of the chemical—which mimics the hormone estrogen—in baby bottles, children’s drinking cups, and infant formula packaging.

While
consumer groups and legislators have fought to limit children's
exposure to BPA in consumer products, some scientists have turned their
attention to monitoring the levels of BPA babies experience in the womb,
as well as studying the effects of the chemical on the development of
animals before birth.

BPA Found in All Fetal Blood Samples

In a new study, Patricia A. Hunt, Ph.D.,
the scientist who investigated BPA's effects on maturing mouse eggs,
and her colleagues found that the chemical was present in all umbilical cord blood samples taken from pregnant women having an elective procedure.

The
85 women in the study were tested during the second trimester of their
pregnancy at a San Francisco clinic that serves Northern and Central
California.

Researchers detected at least one type of BPA in all
the cord blood samples, either active BPA or forms converted by the
body, such as BPA sulfate.

The average levels of BPA detected
were similar to those measured in cord blood samples taken from
full-term infants in other studies. However, three of the samples had
the highest BPA levels recorded in fetuses to date.

"Our findings
suggest universal fetal exposure to BPA in our study population, with
some at relatively high levels, and we provide the first evidence of
detectable BPA sulfate in mid-gestation fetuses," the scientists from
Washington State University and the University of California, San
Francisco wrote in an article published online Aug. 13 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Concerns About the Health Effects of BPA

“As
a developmental biologist, I am extremely concerned about the levels
these study authors have reported,” says Laura Vandenberg, Ph.D., a
scientist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, who studies BPA
but was not part of this study team. “But even more concerning is that
the levels found in the fetal samples are very similar to levels that
are known to cause harm in developing rodents.”

Several studies in animals have found possible health affects of BPA, including links to cancer,
genital defects in males, early onset of puberty in females, obesity,
and behavioral problems, such as attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder.

In addition, a 2009 report
from the National Toxicology Program expressed “some concern for
effects on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants,
and children at current human exposures to bisphenol A.”

Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses only high doses to test the safety of chemicals.

However, in another study, published online last month in the journal Reproductive Toxicology,
researchers found that mice exposed to lower doses of BPA in the womb
had larger changes to their health, including increased weight gain,
eating, and glucose intolerance.

Reason for High Levels of BPA Unclear

Not
all scientists are convinced that BPA is dangerous to human health.
Some have claimed that the BPA found in test samples is actually the
result of contamination from supplies—which are made of plastic—used to
collect and store the blood.

“It
remains a strong point of debate in the BPA field whether there is free
BPA circulating in the blood of people,” says Vandenberg. “This is
important because, if BPA is rapidly cleared from the body, it has been
argued that it should not have any biological effects.”

Researchers
in the new study developed methods to prevent this type of
contamination, but they still found BPA present in all of the cord blood
samples.

The reason for high levels of BPA in the cord blood
samples is unclear, though the researchers suggest that it could be a
combination of high BPA exposure through the mother and the inability of
the fetus’ immature metabolism to break down active BPA.

"Overall,
our findings point to the importance of fetal exposure to BPA during
development and the need to accurately assess the full range of human
exposure during pregnancy," the authors wrote.